Single
by PagetPaulson
Summary: It was like she was a single mom.


Chasing the youngest around the living room, the dark skinned agent grabbed his little body and tossed him in the air. "Gotcha!" he laughed, tickling his sides and carrying him back over to the couch to sit with his mother.

Emily shared a smile with her son and let him cuddle into her chest. "You're tired, aren't you?" She had told both kids to get to bed at their usual time but they'd refused.

Yawning into his mother's chest, the three year old shook his head and pulled at her hair.

"Give Derek a kiss then mommy will take you and Lexi to bed."

The three year old stood on his mother's lap and turned, feeling her hands on his legs to hold him steady as he leaned forward and pressed a sloppy kiss to his mother's friend's cheek. "Night Uncle Derek," he whispered.

The FBI agent watched his friend take both kids down the hall and get them ready for bed, and he glanced at the clock.

Almost ten o'clock.

She had done her best to do her normal nightly routine with the kids but they had persisted and bugged her to stay up until their father came home, and even though she knew he wouldn't be there until hours past the time they could stay up, she let them.

Derek turned the television on mute as Emily walked back in, a small smile on her face.

"Thanks for staying," she said quietly, busying herself with cleaning up the cups and snack wrappers her children had left around the coffee table.

He watched as she kept her head down as she cleaned and walked back and forth from the kitchen, her teeth gnawing into her bottom lip like they always did when she was trying to push past whatever was bothering her. "Need help?"

Emily shook her head and made her way back to the living room, offering her friend one of the beers she'd taken from the fridge.

"Em," he sighed, his eyes on her as she took a long swig from the bottle. "You need to break this off."

The mother of two watched the television with blank eyes.

"This isn't normal."

Emily slowly gave a nod of the head, her eyes casting down to the bottle she held. Letting her fingers dip in the condensation and draw, the mother of two did her best to try and form the words that she wanted to say to the younger man.

Derek took one of the woman's hands and gave it a firm squeeze. "Do you want me to be here when you do it?"

"I don't know," the whispered words came. Her husband was the man she had fallen in love with when she was only seventeen years old, but the man he was then was definitely not the man who came home to here every night.

If he came home.

Emily quickly took her hand from the younger man's so she could wipe the tears pricking her eyes. "He's my husband," she said shortly, shaking her head when she felt his eyes on her. "He's been my husband for eleven years."

"And has he been a good one?"

"Yes," she nodded quickly, setting her beer on the coffee table. "He's a great man and an amazing father."

"Husband, Emily," Derek persisted, turning to get a better look at the woman beside him. "We're talking about him as a husband to you."

Emily huffed, raking her fingers through her hair as she turned just as her friend did and looked him in the eyes. "Aaron is a good man," the mother of two nodded, making sure her eyes stayed glued to his so her point was made. "He's been a wonderful husband. But lately, he's been out at the bar and with his friends and he doesn't come home until the middle of the night." Licking her chapped lips, the ambassador's daughter shrugged. "I know he loves me."

Derek watched as his friend use the ends of her sleeves to wipe her tears from her cheeks, and he slowly wrapped his arms around her to stop her from breaking down.

"He wouldn't intentionally hurt me," Emily whispered into his shoulder, holding back her tears as he rubbed her back. "But he doesn't know what he's doing to me. He doesn't get it no matter how many times I try to talk to him."

Leaning back, the dark skinned man brushed his fingers along the ivory woman's cheekbones and felt her tears drip down his skin. "I will be right here," he nodded. "You talk to him and I'm right here to back you up."

The brunette woman rolled her eyes. "He's going to feel like we're ganging up on him."

"We are," Derek said firmly, giving a small shake to the older agent's body. "Emily, it's as if you're a single mother. He's never here."

Emily let her lips purse before she nodded her head in agreement.

"All you have to do is give your side, ok? I won't leave this house until we've reached an agreement."

Giving a gentle nod of the head, Emily took her hands from the younger man and straightened the collar of her sweater. "Ok," she whispered. "Thank you."

The familiar sound of the key jiggling in the front door made Emily stand, her body turning to there foyer to see the knob turning. She immediately felt Derek's hands on her shoulders and she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before she watched the door slowly swing open. Reaching up, she took one of Derek's hands and squeezed.

"Aaron."

Hotch looked up as he closed the door, his chest tight.

"Hi honey," Emily smiled sadly, taking her hand from Derek's and gesturing for him to make his way to the living room. "We need to talk."


End file.
